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@Chicago_Guy Please let us know what happens with that.

Chicago_Guy says

A neighbor that I have not met dropped a hand written
note into my mail box informing me she has gotten quotes for the replace

Illegal. Missed this part. Report her to the authorities. You can't touch people's mailboxes or put stuff in them.

You have a shit neighbor dude. Better to be aggressive and put her in her place. Otherwise she'll keep trying to walk all over you. Likely idle time and nothing to do on her end. So it won't stop. You cave on anything, a month later it will be something else.

I feel for ya. I don't see this neighbor relationship working. I'd turn into the aggressor in this situation. Take control. Weirdly some Karens are seeking that attention. You might have one on your hands with this. It gets them off so to speak.

WookieMan says

Illegal. Missed this part. Report her to the authorities. You can't touch people's mailboxes or put stuff in them.

You cannot hand deliver mail? Also that law exists, on a brief lookup. I don't think he should go nuclear on them, it's hard to recoup money from somebody even if you have grounds, so you can just politely refuse while investigating. This neighbor may be annoying but not code red style. I'd stay diplomatic if you're going to live next to that person, has many advantages (crime watch etc.)

Chicago_Guy says

2 fence panels because the wood is rotting and one board is separating by 2 inches and someone could see into her yard (2 inch gap) and also enter her yard from our cul-de-sac.

Does someone even need to be hired? Can this maybe be fixed with a few nails, and maybe a purchase of a piece of wood from home depot?

Sometimes some wood pieces on my fence separate from their backing post. Its very odd, and I think it has something to do with temperature change / wood moisture causing expansion which ejects the nail a little each day until it falls out. I got tired of having to hammer them back so I added screws on the problem pieces.

Is their complaint even valid IYO, or are they being petty? I mean, all fences rot, but that doesn't mean they need replacement. And I would never replace a fence because a single or few boards need work unless the rest of the fence is really in poor shape too.

Chicago_Guy says

Welcome to the lovely state of California!!

Lol! It only gets better from here on out, NOT! If you seek comfort and succor from neighbors, much less enjoyable bonhomie, rather than demands, confrontations, surveillance, and petty lawsuits, California isn't the place. I joke that the homeowner's associations keep stacks of restraining order complaints for their residents. My hood in Santa Cruz has had at least five restraining orders and a few lawsuits in a grouping of about 52 dwellings since we have been here. People will fight over inches.

Since not many people out here seem to have positive ways of dealing with neighbors and other people, they will seek attention through assault and conflict. You eventually realize how many crazy people and grifters there actually are. Somebody is always pulling some kind of shit for no apparent reason. As long as you aren't involved, one might consider it kind of an entertainment feature.

I have two friends who were born and raised here, native Bay Area Californians. You are fine if you are accepted as part of their clique, but both of these guys are perpetually in some kind of hot water. They are either 'going after' somebody, or somebody is 'going after' them, and neither seem to enjoy any prolonged period of time in which they aren't in one state or the other. Much of the entertainment of being with them is talking about their self imposed conflicts.

There are nice people, but you have to look for them and try to hold on to them, but so many people move around it can be difficult. I always thought that movie 'Rebel Without A Cause' where the kid is immediately swarmed by nasty, knife wielding school thugs was pretty accurate of the newcomer experience, until you get aligned with your own gang or clique.

I really do think the air in California makes people crazy, I think of it as the ghosts of the Pacific.

Chicago_Guy says

It sounds nuts but I am thinking about moving from Chicago to the Bay area to be near my only child and her family in Mountain View.

Awesome, families should live together.

Say @Chicago_Guy did you ever move to the Bay Area?

If so, want to meet up in Martinez with Onvacation, richwicks, and myself?

https://patrick.net/post/1343212/2022-01-04-million-post-party?start=94#comment-1869437

mell says

This neighbor may be annoying but not code red style. I'd stay diplomatic if you're going to live next to that person, has many advantages (crime watch etc.)

I disagree. A shitty neighbor will continue to be that. I confront. Will 100% of the time.

It's not about being a dick. It's about control. I've done it. I've gotten at 55+ year old neighbor to walk his Harley down the street because he pissed me off. He is/was bigger than me too. I knew his pipes were illegal and I had a decibel meter and recorded it.

Fact is a shitty neighbor is just an angry person looking to piss people off. Outsmart them. It generally is really easy to do. They're simpletons. They think they're invincible.

I'm fortunate to have decent neighbors. Besides the Harley guy. I torched the guy in front of my kids and nephew. Kind of a bad example. Fuck it. When you idle a Harley for 15 minutes at 6am, get fucked. And then start revving it before you leave. Just die already.

And yes, definitely cannot literally touch another persons mailbox. We did get 34 beers in our one friends mailbox. USPS still put the mail in. One of the funnier things I've done. 34 beers and some mail. That chick was probably like what the fuck is going on. Whatever... I'll jam it in. lol.